“THE COOLEST PLACE IN WASHINGTON – that few will ever see” . . . DC’s AMAZING ‘CLEAN RIVER’ TUNNEL PROJECT ―At this moment, hundreds of feet beneath the Potomac and Anacostia riverbeds, two impressive ‘ladies’ are drilling gigantic tunnels through soil untouched since dinosaurs. It’s the most amazing, expensive engineering project that most of us will never see. Like 770 other American towns, Washington has 19th century ‘combined’ sewers. They’ve poured contaminated stormwater into area rivers for 200 years. When weather is fine, all effluent gets treated - but during storms more than 2 billion gallons of rainwater a year, mixed with raw sewage, flow directly to rivers and tributaries.

What’s the answer? Miles of massive underground and underwater tunnels, 30-feet in diameter, being constructed right now 24-hours a day, using the same technology that dug Europe’s ‘Chunnel’ from England to France. DCALS members are involved in the job. Two incredible drilling machines, each 443-feet long and weighing 1323 tons, were christened with champagne like warships by their crews - “Lady Bird” and “Nannie Helen Burrows.” They work around-the clock 6 days a week, unseen by a busy nation’s capital above. Not only do they drill the shafts, they bring up tunnel linings, lay track behind them, ventilate the hole and pump out dug material - all guided by GPS hundreds of feet down.

When completed the huge system will pass within a fly-ball of Nationals Park, within a field goal of RFK, under the tracks to Union Station, below a 6-lane highway and up Rhode Island Avenue toward Logan Circle. It’ll capture 98% of our area’s contaminated storm surge, pumping it afterwards at controlled release rates to Blue Plains for treatment. It’s a project like nothing else you’ve ever seen.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:

Professional engineer Carlton Ray is director of DC’s 20-year, $2.6 billion “Clean Rivers Project.” He supervises a high-tech staff of more than 80 with expertise in tunnels, undergound structures, hydraulics, water quality, geotech and all the other disciplines needed for such a project. Licensed in multiple states, with a civil engineering degree from Auburn, he has 25-years experience in the public and private sectors. As he escorts tunnel visitors up to the drilling head, he says, “Some people go to the White House and Capitol, but this is the coolest place in the city.” He’s right. Please join us.

DINNER:

Please show up hungry! You’ll receive ALL of the following - served “Family-Style” . . .

TONY CHENG’S RESTAURANT [ Phone 202-371-8669 ] is located on H Street NW between 6th and 7th Streets. Take Metro to Gallery Place Chinatown Station. Metro’s north escalator brings you out across H Street from Tony Cheng’s Restaurant. Our meeting is on the Third Floor.

Meeting Agenda

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Social Hour (cash bar)

7:00pm - 8:00pm

Dinner and Association Business

8:00pm - 9:00pm

Guest Speaker and Presentation

To register for the Wednesday March 9th DCALS meeting at Tony Cheng’s click the "REGISTER" button at the top of this page.

We’ll see you there!

If you register beforemidnight 3/06/2016, you will receive the Early Bird Discount of $40.00 per person.

Registration on or after 3/07/2016 will cost $50.00 per person. This includes registration at the door.

Payments:

You can make an on-line payment through our secure website by one of the following two methods: